Good point and the authors of DBA do have options for players wishing ‘grandeur'.

On page 13 and 14 of the rule book are two ways to increase the size of the game without adding unnecessary extra rules. I prefer the last mentioned, the historical refight where the number of elements represent known numbers; this can be calculated using the recommended ratios.

And since you asked, the next two battles will involve 60 plus elements for the first and 110 elements for the second. In both engagements Rome was outnumbered yet won both battles.

WRG 3, I had painted a full Roman legion (25mm, 1:20 scale) of nine cohorts of 24 figures and the first cohort of 40. Add to that total ten cohorts and Alae of auxilia, three of which were of Miliaria strength.

During the ‘days of WRG 5th/6th we made the shift to 15mm so travel and participation at various tournaments at Rome, Paris and Brussels was made easier.

At the Derby World Team championships our club, representing the Netherlands, placed third. I believe my team mates used an Alexandrian Imperial and a Successor army while I fielded a Mongol Conquest army (tons of scouting points).

So, I do remember and as a matter of interest we had then similar opinions about DBA; ‘did not depict a real battle, too simple, etc'.

But in time, opinions can also become tempered or possibly even changed.

Under WRG5th/6th I could just about cope with the 1:20 figure/man ratio by conning myself the battles were being fought by advance parties of the various units present.

With 4 figure elements I can't do that. When I first bought DBA in 1990 the thought of 20 or 30 armies each no more than 50 figures strong interested me.That idea quickly paled,despite buying each version in the DBX series my view hasn't changed.

You may wonder what on earth I play. It's 1:1 or 1:2 figure/man ratio in 2mm scale ! I imagine folks would complain about visuals there too :-)